Kicking clergy out of Senate chamber caps ugly 24 hours in Jefferson City

It’s been an ugly last 24 hours in Jefferson City. The General Assembly approved an irresponsible tax cut bill over the veto of Gov. Jay Nixon. And on Tuesday, the Senate kicked some loud Medicaid expansion supporters out of the Capitol

On Tuesday, Republican members of the Senate were still on cloud nine after their vote Monday to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of an irresponsible and economically destructive tax cut. It will help well-off Missourian better than others, but that’s par for the course for these kinds of measures.

The GOP-dominated House on Tuesday morning also overrode the veto, with the help of a lone Democrat, effectively making it law over Nixon’s veto.

That’s a short way of getting to this fact:

Supporters of expanding Medicaid assistance for lower income Missourians picked a bad day to show up at the state Capitol to let their voices be heard.

The group included a number of clergy who, for good reasons, want the state to accept federal funds that will allow better health care to be provided to more people.

Late Tuesday morning, people in the Senate gallery started chanting “Medicaid Expansion! Do it now!” according to press accounts.

The noise upset the sensitive ears of the senators. Eventually, Capitol police were told to remove the people.